Monday, September 7, 2015

Ethiopia launches space program, the first in East Africa

Entoto, Ethiopia – Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country has joined the elite club of African countries with a space programme initiative.

The first in East Africa and operational for only a few months is situated atop the 3,200-metre high (10,500 feet) Mount Entoto, is expected to deliver and stimulate a technological boost for that country’s rapid development.

This feat is a collaboration between the Ethiopian Space Science Society (ESSS), the International Astronomical Union and Astrophysics enthusiasts, is funded by the Ethiopian-Saudi business magnate, Mohammed Alamoudi, which commenced in 2004 to promote astronomy.

The $3 million center houses computer-controlled telescopes and a spectrograph to measure wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation.

Space programme initiatives is making giant strides and fast catching up with the African continent. It has given birth to the Nigeria’s National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) triggering the launch of its NigeriaSAT and Earth Observatory satellites with the Algerian Space Agency rolling out the AlSAT-2A satellite.

Additionally, South Africa and Australia are co-locating the giant Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project with collaboration from 11 developed countries and eight African partners including Ghana, Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia, aimed at broadening the frontiers of science and technology for accelerated development.

abinet Ezra, communications director for ESSS said “Science is part of any development cycle. Without science and technology, nothing can be achieved.”

“Our main priority is to inspire the young generation to be involved in science and technology.”

It has a bold mission: “To build a society with a highly developed scientific culture that enables Ethiopia to reap the benefits accruing from space science and technology.”

But its supporters have had a tough time setting it up.

For the past decade, a handful of enthusiasts — including Solomon Belay, director of the observatory and a professor of astrophysics — battled with the authorities to convince them that in a country that is one of the poorest in the world and where malnutrition is still a threat, the exploration of space is not a luxury.

Ethiopia strongman Meles Zenawi, who died in 2012, considered them day dreamers.

“People said we were crazy,” said Belay. “The attention of the government was to secure food security, not to start a space and technology program. Our idea was contrary to that.”

The space observatory is, above all, a symbol.

It allows the handful of astronomy and astrophysics students at the University of Addis Ababa to train on site rather than taking expensive trips abroad.

“Being poor is not a boundary to start this program,” Solomon said, adding that by boosting support for science, it would help develop the country. “Engineering and sciences are important to transform our agriculture into industry.”

The site at Entoto, which is often hidden by clouds during the rainy season and is close to the lights of Addis Ababa, struggles to compete with the world’s major observatories, including the far larger Southern African Large Telescope in South Africa.

But Ethiopia has plans, including to build a far more powerful observatory in the northern mountains around Lalibela, far from city lights.

With the authorities now won over that Ethiopia should invest in space science, the government hopes to launch a national space agency — and to put an Ethiopian satellite in orbit within five years, for the monitoring of farmland and to boost communications.

“We are using space applications in everyday activities, for mobile phones, weather — space applications are fundamental,” said Kelali Adhana, the International Astronomical Union chief for East Africa, who is based in Ethiopia. “We cannot postpone it, otherwise we allow ourselves to live in poverty.”

At Ethiopia’s Institute of Technology in the northern town of Mekelle, scientists plan to test the first Ethiopian rocket to go more than 30 kilometers (18½ miles) into the sky, although that is still below the 100-kilometer frontier between the Earth’s atmosphere and space.

Ethiopian astronauts, however, remain far off even though the prospect of conquering space is an attractive one in a country that lays claim to be the birthplace of humankind, with the remains of the ancient hominid Lucy housed in Addis Ababa.

“We are in no hurry to go to deep space,” said Belay.
Source: the-newshub.com

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